


Morning Glories

by pinacoladada



Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 16:37:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12461694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinacoladada/pseuds/pinacoladada
Summary: It's been a long road, and after this latest mission our Guardian is starting to feel the strain of the journey so far. Early Cayde x Guardian hints/fluff.





	Morning Glories

 

It was a Titan this time.

 

His armor had all but been ripped from him, and what had remained was badly broken and dented. The red paint of the helm that once silhouetted an elegant phoenix had begun to flake away into the dirt.   
The Titan had been favoured in the crucible to be chosen for the next Trials of the Nine, one of Shaxx's hopefuls. Next to him, his ghost. The eye piece shattered.  


It was no place to die alone.  


"Zavala. We were too late." A little mechanical voice of a Ghost echoed off of the damp cave walls, his scans illuminating the wet mossy ground in a pale blue hue. Carefully his Guardian partner knelt down besides the body. The Hunter shook her head sadly as she removed a glove, sweaty and warm from the fight that had just ensued.  


"I see." Zavala's voice reflected the bleak discovery.  


It had been a difficult fight. And the Cabal had more numbers than she was able to quickly count. Their dogs had swarmed her and her precious Ghost's position as a heavy Colossus inched further forward, the ground shaking hard to his footsteps. The onslaught constant and dominant. The near endless shooting had left her ammo depleted, and there was nothing left but the light that burned hot electric in her hands. The Hunter had taken substantial damage fending off what was left. The now light-less Titan had taken out what had been the bulk of the squadron's Legionaries. The evidence of his struggle left in the burned fist marks on the ground. A last stand and memory of his final battle.

 

With a crash and a flick she had buried her staff into the Colossus skull, leaving a path of static and death in her wake. For a long while she had been sure – maybe this time I won't make it out.  


But she did, like she always had.  


"What of the signal?" The Commander and Ghost's chatter distracted her from her thoughts.

 

"Nothing. I'm downloading what's left of it from his Ghost."  


"Understood, report back to the tower. And please, make it back home safe Guardian."

 

Placing her hand on the Titan's stiff arm she gave it one last hopeless shake. Her Ghost watched the Hunter bow her head in defeat.

 

"Yes, Commander."  


The communications hushed into the quiet of the cave and everything was still.  


For a short while the Hunter remained knelt, the light thumping in her chest to the pace of her pleading thoughts of if only's and but's. Swiftly jumping to her feet she startled her Ghost as she bolted upright ready to take out her anger on something, anything, that would bear her light's shock. The static shot to her hand once more, muffling out any sense she had as she begun to swing her staff frantically, raising it high above her head, both hands grasping at the power that flowed through her -

 

But there was nothing left. There was nothing left to kill.

  
And so she stood paused, a sharp wave of burning washing over her as she peered into the dark, the light cackling faintly around her.

 

Silence.

 

It was all so empty.

 

"You did all you could." A soft and small voice called to the storm that begun building in her heart. An attempt to soothe her. The Ghost concerned hovers cautiously over to his Hunter's side, peering back at the Guardian that lay in the dust behind her.   
He was right, there was nothing more that could have been done. They had been far too late.

 

"Shall we do the usual?" He asks, hoping routine will bring her back to her senses a little. It had done before.

 

Quietly she stood still as the electricity around her fades, gathering and taking the frayed edges of her cloak into one hand.  


"I'm going to run out soon."   


It's material was light, the pattern and colours are old and fading, but it was so special to her. This cloak was a gift and this ritual of hers was a habit. It had little meaning, and perhaps it was only of comfort to her alone. To leave a piece behind and to witness a battle's end, a final death. Tearing off a thin strip she tenderly takes the Titan's hand and wraps it his wrist, tying a small knot to secure it.   
  
  
"Thank you."

  
She always thought it sounded better than an empty apology.

 

* * *

 

The Tower was home, and so a small part of the day's dark burden lifted as she docked her ship. Walking through the hanger she gingerly waved at those who recognised and called for her company, politely explaining her business with Zavala before hastily retreating to the courtyard. The afternoon sun was falling in the sky and the leaves begun to turn red like fire. Soon the The Festival of the Lostwould arrive, a holiday she was most fond of and one her and her fire team made a habit of attending each year no matter how busy they were or how much duty called.  


For now at least in this part of the tower she could  relax.

 

The gardens were small but colourful, and planted among the flowerbeds were some exceptionally rare plants. She wandered by the benches were two Warlock's spoke quietly surrounded by her favourite blue flowers. Their scent lingered in the air despite the season for their blooming having finished months ago. The Warlocks sat there spoke of this and wondered if it was something to do the Travellers awakening after Ghaul's defeat.  


Ghaul – she really didn't want to think about that right now.  


Being  _the_  Guardian she had seen it all – The Black Garden, Crota, Oryx and of course the SIVA outbreak. Living each time lived to tell the tale. In fact that is what she had become, a tale people would speak of in hushed voices in the city.

 

The Hunter pauses on her path amongst the flowerbeds to the front of the garden, gazing at the Traveller basking, cracked and damaged in the golden sky.  


She could fight, and she would always fight. The Hunter had been given the power to do just that.

But she was also so very tired.

 

Her Ghost that had been following along side fluttered down and settled on her shoulder quietly, nestling just under the warmth of her hood as he always had done. He was concerned. They had been busy recently and it was beginning to wear on his Guardian's face with a frown. The fight didn't just stop at Ghaul, no, it went way beyond him. The people they lost, the home's and communities they built, all broken and irreplaceable. And so the ones who survived were left to pick of the pieces.   
To heal the living and honour the dead. To try and rebuild. It was a long task they all faced together.

 

"We really have seen it all so far haven't we?" He thought out loud. "But, you know. I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else." The soft and routine beeps that followed his words, filling the quiet in the air around them. "You're strong and kind. That's why I chose you."  


"Not because I wield light faster and stronger than anyone else?" She smirks a little as she raises her finger to the Ghost, giving him a light flick against his shell. The backside of the little bot swirls playful as he unsuccessfully tries to retreat from her teasing. She smiles for a moment, and he allows himself to think maybe his Guardian is fine, maybe it's fatigue, it has been such a long day after all. It however doesn't take long for his optimism to fade. Watching her face he leaves the warmth of her side and glances at her sad eyes.

  
Today had hit hard.  


He gently calls her name. Purposely unmasking his concern in his voice. His poor Hunter.

  
"I am sorry my friend. I cannot hide my feelings around you." She says, "I'm not sure how I can cheer myself up right now."

  
He starts muddling through his thoughts, what can they do? What would make her a little happier? There had to be something. Crucible? No, far too much shooting had been done already today. Reading? She had only been to the library that morning. An early night? She didn't sleep at all on the best of days. As he rattles his insides frantically for a suggestion he spots a familiar Exo at the back of the garden by the trees, tall and strapping, his steps confident and wide.  
  
It was like his prayers had been answered. The one thing that might cheer his Hunter up.  


"Bingo!"  


"Bingo?" Before the Hunter could question what her Ghost was up to he had flown off with a buzz.  


"Hey! Cayde!" The Ghost called hurrying over in an attempt to catch the Vanguard's attention. The Exo stops in his tracks and turns to the Ghost speeding his way over to him.  
  


"Oh, there you two are! Finally. I should have known you'd be here." Cayde-6's dark cape bellows out as the wind begins to pick up, pushing the tree to shed a few of their dried leaves in response. His walk is almost agitated as he makes his way towards his Hunter and friend, lightly jogging the last few steps over to them before the Guardian could properly register a response.

  
"Oh right, the hanger," she recalled out loud, having turned to face him finally. Had he called for her?  


"What? That's all I get? After you didn't come to visit me?" He shakes his head playfully before muttering a soft wow, his hands firmly on his hips.

  
"Hey! I visit you all the time!"  


"I know! What can I say?" He wanders over to the rail in front of them and leans forward. "Maybe I'm needy."

  
She allows her head to fall back into a sigh having quickly lost the energy to protest. It was always like this between the two, a gentle back and forth, amusing and playful. She liked his jokes, and he liked her company. Even now she couldn't help but feel more at peace as she made her way to stand by his side.

  
"The mission." His tone is briefly a lot more serious. "I read the initial report." Cayde glances over his shoulder at her.

  
"You okay?"

  
No hesitation, and it was sudden but he had to ask. He was in some ways quite desperate to know after watching her earlier. The Hunter hadn't seemed herself not just that afternoon but for a few days now. That smile he had grown accustom to waiting for each morning suddenly seemed tired and forced. Like she was trying to balance that weight alone, trying to hide that weakness from others, that weakness of letting it get to you.

  
That feeling, it felt all too familiar to him.

  
She can't answer. Where would she beginning? Waking up without knowing who she was? The Stranger that had followed her speaking in rhyme's about the future before vanishing? Or how she wondered if Cayde himself had died when she couldn't find him the night when the tower fell? As she goes to speak the words tangle and get caught in the back of her throat. She had never realised how much it stung before today.   
  
  
"You know," Cayde continued, "you don't always have to be the brave, undefeatable, god slaying, do it all Guardian right?" He tries to glance at the Hunters's hooded face carefully trying to gauge her reaction before speaking further. She remains wordless, her eyes fixed on the city's horizon. She thought it looked so beautiful as it begun to light up. Her silence drove him onward.  
  
"..Especially around me."  
  
  
_Damn it. Don't do that Cayde._  
  
She thought wrestling with a growing ache in her throat.  
  
_Don't be so nice to me._  
  
  
It made her panic, his kind words that searched and gently reached out to her. She liked it though. She liked to be comforted by him. At the same time it felt dangerous to grow closer to her friend, her Vanguard. After all Guardians sometimes don't make it back home. The ever looming threat of never returning, ever apparent. But when she did come back, he would be here wouldn't he? Someone was waiting for her to come home. Her city waited too, it's streetlights growing ever brighter on the horizon. She wanted to protect it all.  
  
The Hunter pushes back her hood, allowing the fresh air to brush her skin with a dull coolness. Her soft features becoming illuminated by the golden sun fading in the sky. The Autumn weather had always made her happy. And this moment alone with Cayde made her heart feel lighter. Thinking this a slight smile formed on her lips. She felt like she had remembered something.

  
Cayde awkwardly glances away, slightly embarrassed at allowing himself to indulge in the Guardian too long. The quiet space between them only amplified those unspoken words. It only made him think about how pretty she was.  
  
  
The trapped sting in her throat became a puff of air that finally escaped her lips, and the silence was broken.  
  
  
"..Thank you." The Hunter's words are soft and almost shaky. "You being nice to me is enough. I can fight more now."  
  
  
"Of course you can! That's why your my favourite."   
  
  
"You say that to everyone.."  
  
  
"What? No!..Maybe."  
  
  
"Cayde!"  
  
  
"Okay, okay. Look, you're like my favourite, _favourite_."  
  
  
The Hunter rolls her eyes as she leans down to perch next to the Exo on the rails finding comfort in the warmth by his side, their shoulders touching.  
  
  
"It sounds good doesn't it though?" He nudges her playfully, feeling relief at seeing her face.  
  
  
"It really does."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my awkward/never quite confessing our feelings cause we're awkward af take on Cayde and the Guardian. Unspoken feelings are my favourite type of feelings to explore and I'll be doing it a lot here. This is my first fanfiction in literal years and I'm sure there's lots I can improve on, so please don't hesitate to point stuff out to or let me know if there's anything you'd like me to have a go at. I am more than happy to take requests! Thanks you guys! - Pina


End file.
